Trapeze Networks Chief Strategist to Chair IEEE 802.11 Task Group

PLEASANTON, Calif., Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- A Trapeze Networks engineer, Matthew Gast, has been elected to chair the IEEE committee that is guiding the evolution of the wireless local area networking standard, 802.11. Gast is the author of the best selling guide to wireless networking, chairs important task groups for the Wi-Fi Alliance and is the chief strategist in Trapeze Networks' Office of the CTO.

The original IEEE 802.11 standard was published in 1997 and since then wireless networking has revolutionized the way people work in the office, at home and on the road. The task group Gast is chairing will respond to interpretation requests on the standard and revise it. The current revision of 802.11 was published in 2007. Since that point, three amendments (802.11k, 802.11r, and 802.11y) have been ratified and IEEE rules require a "roll-up" revision that incorporates these amendments. The revision is currently expected in 2011.

"An Enormous Responsibility in Capable Hands"

"This is both a recognition of Gast's important contributions to the development of our industry and an endorsement of his technology leadership skills," said Ahmet Tuncay, Trapeze Networks' chief technology officer. "Clearly, his peers and others who are important stakeholders in wireless networking respect Gast and trust him with this responsibility."

"Trapeze has always been a strong supporter of industry standards," said Gast. "The work done in Task Group Mb is valuable to implementers because it collects the complete set of ratified standards together in one central location. During a revision, we look at the entire specification and consider every protocol component carefully. The task group has already begun considering how recent security research will affect the next revision of the IEEE 802.11 specification."

Earlier this year, Gast was elected to chair two important task groups for the Wi-Fi Alliance, the Network Management Marketing and the Security Technical Task Groups. Gast also recently gave an address at InterOp on the 802.11v standard that is "greening up" wireless networking.

About Trapeze Networks

Trapeze Networks, a Belden brand, is a leading provider of enterprise wireless LAN equipment and management software. Trapeze was the first company to introduce NonStop Wireless -- delivering unmatched reliability to the enterprise wireless LAN and its solutions are optimized for companies requiring mobility and high bandwidth such as healthcare, education, and hospitality. Trapeze delivers Smart Mobile(TM) providing scalable wireless LANs for applications such as Voice over Wi-Fi, location services, and indoor/outdoor connectivity.